


Unexpected

by Tonks914



Series: The Potter kids find love [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 13:25:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12654417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonks914/pseuds/Tonks914
Summary: Lily Luna Potter prides herself on many things. Her quick wit, killer body, and amazing talent as a curse breaker, to name a few. When one bad decision and an impossible assignment shake her confidence, she'll find fulfillment in the most unexpected of places.





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Damn. You guys, I thought I had experienced writer's block before but "Unexpected" took the concept to a whole new level. I know that there are a few of you who have been patiently awaiting the sequel to this trilogy and I've done you such a disservice by not having this out sooner. My sincerest apologies.
> 
> On to this work. After all this time, I'm still not happy with it. I just got to the point where I had to write through it so that I could start the sequel in 2017. I'm so hoping that inspiration will strike and I can come back to it once the series is finished. Only time will tell!

Lily Potter was trapped, pinned under the weight of her sleeping bed mate. His arm draped unceremoniously across her midsection, his legs entangling with hers, his hot, morning breath ghosting against her chin, causing her stomach to churn. It was by no fault of her own that she found herself in this unpleasant situation. After the previous evening’s "festivities" had concluded, she attempted to diplomatically tell the blond to leave; but whether because of the copious amounts of liquor he had consumed or his lack of basic knowledge of social cues, the Neanderthal had simply rolled over and passed out.

She let out a frustrated sigh and jammed her elbow into the sleeping man's ribs. "Nate. Nathan. NATHANIEL!"

Nate startled awake in what would have been a comical manner if Lily hadn't been feeling so murderous towards the imbecile. "Oh," he said smiling warmly in her direction. "Good morning, beautiful." 

Lily cringed at the warmth in his voice, shoving his arm away from her body and standing, pulling the sheet from the bed to protect her modesty while leaving her co-worker entirely exposed. "You need to leave." She said, looking him directly in the eye.

Nate chuckled. "Lily, I'm pretty sure that the entire team saw us leave together last night; there's no need for us to try and hide." He reached out and tugged on the sheet bringing her a step closer to him. "Just come back to bed. I've wanted this for so long, I'm not going to allow bored gossips to ruin this for us."

Lily wouldn’t have been sure if her disgust was apparent on her face if it weren’t for the way Nathan physically recoiled from her gaze, dropping the sheet and looking as though someone had just kicked his puppy.  She’d always struggled with – or rather, been told and made no move to rectify – masking her negative emotions.  It was a trait that led to some less than flattering name calling in her Hogwarts days and at least a dozen unwelcome lectures from her mother.  For the life of her, however, she could never understand how someone would prefer dishonesty over bluntness. 

She let out a frustrated sigh as she stooped to retrieve Nate’s pants and trousers from the floor, tossing them into his lap.  “Listen, last night was fun…ish.”  She struggled for words as she searched for his shirt in the chaos of her room.  “Thanks for the memories.  It’s not you it’s me.  You deserve someone better.  Ha!  I found it!” She announced excitedly, standing and holding the shirt above her head.  She looked at Nate for the first time since she started speaking and was startled to see that his expression had shifted from a look of pitiful sadness to one of murderous rage.  The change caused her to falter slightly.  “Er…listen, it’s just that I don’t do this thing.”  She finished, gesturing between the two of them.  

Nate stood abruptly, ripping the shirt from her grip and dressing with such force that Lily wondered if he would give himself brush burn.  “It’s fine.”  He finally said, although the tone of his voice suggested he was anything but fine.  “I’m just disappointed in myself that I let your sexiness blind me to what a broken fucking bitch you are!”  And with those parting words he threw open the door, nearly knocking into the surprised looking, sandy-haired man who stood with two coffees in his hands, and fled.

The man awkwardly lifted the back of his left hand to right his glasses before looking at Lily and lifting his eyebrows. “What did you DO?” He asked incredulously.

“Fuck off, Oliver!” Lily spat as she lifted various clothing items from her floor, giving each a quick sniff test before landing on a pair of brown trousers and a fitted, forest green t-shirt. 

“You wore that shirt yesterday.”  Oliver said as he turned away without being asked.  She glared at his back before throwing the shirt to the side and settling for the black one that had smelled a bit iffy but was passable. 

“Done.” She said, walking to him and taking the offered coffee from his hands.

“So?”  He questioned, looking at her expectantly.  

“So, what?” She asked. When he just looked at her pointedly, she continued.  “I fucked Nate.  Which, by the way, was not at all worth the time or the aggravation.  Then he acted like a lovesick puppy dog this morning and clearly did not take it well when I kicked him out.” 

Oliver let out a sigh, pushing his glasses at the bridge of his nose although they hadn’t even slipped. She usually found the habit endearing but when paired with his ‘judgemental face’ it just made her want to inflict bodily harm upon him.  

 

Oliver and Lily were an unexpected pair of friends, to say the least; Lily, brash and fearless, Oliver quiet and bookish, but the relationship had worked well enough since they were fourteen years old.  Truth be told, it had only begun because Lily had been looking for someone submissive enough to be persuaded into doing her school work.  At first it appeared to be working, Oliver seemed quite content doing someone else’s school work, as long as that someone else was the most popular girl in their Hogwarts year.  Unfortunately, Lily quickly realized that not everything was as it seemed when three of her essays came back with scores of “Dreadfuls,” all three being laced with repeated references to her famous father.  For some reason, from that moment on, they’d been proper friends.

“Don’t sigh at me or give me that look, Dad.”

“Oh, fuck off.”  He said, lightly shoving her shoulder.  “I just don’t understand why you had to fuck one of our coworkers.  There are other men in this country, you know.”

Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes.  “First off, you know that I don’t speak the language.  And secondly, it had been two months, Ollie, two fucking MONTHS!  That may be okay for your Hufflepuff cock which only functions with explicit permission from your heart, but this girl’s Gryffindor bits have needs.”

Oliver actually snorted and almost spit out his coffee at her words.  He took a moment to compose himself before speaking.  “Firstly, I’ll have you know that this “Hufflepuff cock” must have received special authorization because it has not been two months for me.”  Lily raised her eyebrows at him but knew not to press for information; Oliver was not one to ‘kiss and tell’ about the women he bagged.  “Secondly, you could bother yourself to learn the language.”

“If the curse breakers all learned the languages then there would be no need for my favourite translations expert.” She said patting him on the chest.  “And what would I do without you bringing me coffee and telling me what I wore yesterday, so that I don’t go to briefings looking like hot garbage?”  She finished, flashing him a cheeky smile.

“Oh shit!” He said flipping his arm to glance at his wrist watch.  “We’re going to have to run to make it on time.”

And with that the duo briskly made their way to the opposite side of the compound where a makeshift conference room had been set-up in an old supply space.  By the time they crossed the threshold, Oliver was looking sufficiently flustered which left Lily feeling slightly confused; she’d made him late for multiple briefings and classes over the years and it never seemed to rattle him.  She shrugged off her confusion as they made their way up to their mission administrator, Bethany, to retrieve the agenda for the day.

“Good morning, Oliver.”  She said with a smile, handing him a piece of parchment.  He returned the smile with ease, turned and sat down in the row nearest the door.

As Lily reached for her own itinerary, Bethany’s grin dropped from her face.  Lily answered her grimace with a sickly sweet smile.  “Good morning to you too, Beth!” 

Bethany rolled her eyes and Lily felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that she was able to annoy her so successfully.  She retrieved the parchment with a harsh flick of her wrist and made her way to where Oliver sat, dropping unceremoniously into the seat next to him.

“Question-“she said, completely disregarding the fact that he was nervously reading through his notes.  “When did Bethany’s quiet dislike for me become overt hatred?”

“Maybe when you broke the team golden boy’s heart.” Oliver said, gesturing in the general direction of Nathan without looking up.

Lily followed his motion with her eyes and sure enough, Bethany had taken her seat and now sat, rubbing comforting circles on the back of a dejected looking Nate.  At the sight, an involuntary gag left her throat, causing Oliver to look up and let out a too loud chuckle. 

“Kettletoft, Potter.”  The booming voice of their mission lead, Peakes, startled them from the front of the room.  “Should we separate you right now or do you think you two can behave like adults today?” 

Oliver respectfully dipped his head. “Sorry, sir.  There will be no trouble.”

“I’ll do my best.”  Lily responded honestly, although there was a distinctive snort from the opposite side of the room which made her insides churn with an unpleasant mix of embarrassment and fury. 

“Actually, Kettletoft, let’s jump right into your portion of the briefing.  I think it’s the most important thing we will cover today.”  Peakes said, motioning in Oliver’s direction.

Lily pulled a confused face.  “You didn’t tell me that you had new information.”  She attempted to whisper as Oliver stood.

“Shut up, Lily.” He angrily whispered through clenched teeth as he gathered his notes and made his way to the front of the room. 

“Right.”  He said awkwardly and Lily couldn’t help but smirk at her friend’s inelegance, some of the irritation at being left in the dark dissipating as he nervously pushed his glasses up his face.  “Well, in conducting the interviews with the locals I have noticed a discrepancy in the terminology used for the cave.  I won’t bore you with the specifics, but originally we were operating under the impression that locals used a term translating to “Fires of Hell” in reference to the treasure trove.  However, none of our fire related counter-curses have been the slightest bit effective.”

“Yeah, no shit.”  Someone yelled with a laugh, from the front row, but was quickly hushed.

Oliver swallowed hard and continued.  “There’s a second name, though – “Flying Death,” that is mostly used by the youth of the community.” 

“So what?”  Nate asked, making Lily just barely able to contain her urge to physically harm him. “So they have two names for it?  How does that affect us?”

A few of the other curse breakers murmured their agreement but Oliver continued unabashed.  “Well, they don’t actually have TWO names for it.  It seems like that they have a NEW name for it.  I would venture to guess that the original curse has been broken and instead of collecting their spoils, the breakers placed new enchantments on the cave.” 

Lily glanced quickly around the room and saw that everyone wore similar expressions of shock.  They had wasted two entire months throwing ancient, fire-based counter-curses at the cave mouth and it had been for nothing.  They weren’t even using magic from the right time period.  Despite her irritation, she was immensely proud of Ollie.  If they were able to get their money, it would be solely because of him. 

Peakes stood and nodded to Oliver, indicating that he could retake his seat.  When he plopped back down next to her, Lily couldn’t help but nudge him affectionately with her elbow.  He rolled his eyes but smirked all the same, in response. 

“Thank you, Kettletoft.” Peakes began.  “Now, this news, albeit frustrating, couldn’t have come at a better time.  I just received a letter from Gringotts informing me that they would be sending reinforcements in three weeks if we are unable to make any more progress.  This break-through should be enough to get us a decent extension.   That’s some fantastic news because I don’t know about you, but I think we’ve put in too much time on this to share our pay day! Am I right?”  The team shouted their agreement and Peakes smiled.  “Alright, we’re going to be heading back to the site…”

Lily was trying to listen but movement outside the window, to her right had caught her attention.  She could have sworn that she saw a person peering in, but after a solid minute of staring, she convinced herself that she'd imagined it and turned her focus back to the front of the room.

It was when Peakes started assigning the day's responsibilities, that Lily caught sight of it again in her peripheral vision - the unmistakable silhouette of a human head. She snapped her head to the right but as soon as her eyes fully settled on the window, the person was gone. This time, certain of what she had saw, she kept her eyes glued to the spot where they had disappeared.

After only a few moments, the head of a small, dark-skinned girl, no more than three, comically popped up into the window frame. When her eyes locked with Lily's, she didn't hide again, as Lily expected, but instead pulled a crude face, sticking her tongue out and narrowing her eyes. Lily wanted to laugh at the sight but instead contorted her face into one of nightmares which sent the girl into silent giggles.

“Potter!” Peakes screeched. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Sorry, sir-” she began, motioning to the spot where the girl had been moments before. She was about to explain when Oliver's hand flew to her thigh and squeezed insistently. When her eyes locked on his, he shook his head once. Lily sighed before continuing. “I guess I...have a tick?”

“Was that a question, Potter?” Peakes asked, his voice laced with irritation.

Lily glared at Oliver and then sighed again. “No, sir. I have an excited tick. I'll do my best to keep it under control.”

Peakes only shook his head before dismissing the group with the instruction to meet at the gates in fifteen minutes.

As soon as she and Ollie were out of earshot, she pulled him to a halt and set a scowl on her face that she'd been told could wilt flowers. “What the hell was that? Now everyone thinks I'm crazy!”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “No they don't. It's you, Lil. They just think you were up to something. And anyway, that little girl has been on site for a week and is causing no trouble. If you told Peakes about her then he’d increase security and she'd be gone before I earned her trust enough to have a conversation.”

“And why do you want to talk to her anyway?” She asked. “Do you think she knows something about the treasure?”

Oliver flashed a disappointed look in her direction. “No, Lily.” He spat harshly.  “I want to talk to her because she's barely three and if she's not with her parents then there might be something wrong.”

Lily felt shame bloom in her chest but did her best to conceal it. “Right. Of course.  Well, in that case, I'll keep an eye out for her, too.  I reckon I’ll be able to earn her trust; we already bonded a bit.”

Oliver scoffed.  “Bonded?  Is that was you call trying to scare the shit out of her?”

“She stuck her tongue out at me!”  Lily defended.  “And it didn’t scare her in the slightest, in fact, it made her laugh.  Clearly she’s made of tougher stuff than you.”

Oliver only rolled his eyes and handed her a slip of parchment.  “What’s this?”  Lily asked, unrolling the paper.

“Your partner and assignment for today.  I knew you weren’t paying any attention in there so I jotted it down for you.”  He said matter-of-factly, turning in the direction of the front gates.  “You’re going to have an interesting day!”  

“What does that mean?”  Lily shouted after him, unrolling the parchment and quickly scanning the hasty scribbles until she came to her partner name - Nathan Packerson.  “Oh, bugger-fuck!”  She yelled, running to catch up with her mate who was already laughing hysterically.  

.

After five, sweaty hours at the site, the team was feeling slightly defeated. Although Lily knew it wasn't logical, some part of her thought that they'd made quick work of the curse now that they had some definitive information. Instead she'd put in another full day of labour, while combating the cold shoulder tactic from Nate, with no payout. To add insult to injury, Peakes had assigned them each a text on modern curses, which Lily begrudgingly collected before morosely heading to the kitchen.

When she entered the kitchen, irritation bloomed in her chest at the sight. Oliver sat, in between Beth and Nate, animatedly discussing something. ‘Traitor,’ Lily thought angrily as she stalked up to the buffet and grabbed a plate, piling the dish with the strange pasta concoction that they had every Tuesday. She peaked into the basket to the right and saw crumbs of what had clearly been Beth's chocolate chip cookies and audibly groaned, she had no love for the woman but her cookies were amazing. Lily turned abruptly and found herself nose to nose with Oliver, who was smirking at her knowingly.

“What?” She spat.

Oliver only smiled wider at her annoyance. “We were talking about work.” He said.

“Who’s we?” She asked, feigning innocence although it was clear that he wasn't fooled.

“Okay, Lils.”  He said with a chuckle, before dropping two chocolate chip cookies onto her plate.

Lily let out a shocked gasp at the sight of those two delicious-looking cookies sitting next to the disgusting pasta.  She brought her eyes up to meet Oliver’s and smiled broadly, knowing that it was ridiculous for baked goods to change her demeanour so drastically.  He returned the smile easily but only gave her a self-assured wink before walking past.  Lily’s reply was late coming as her mouth fell open on an unattractive snort at Oliver’s behavior, her once shy best-mate had really come into his own.

“You know,” she shouted after him, “that was properly suave.  There might be hope for your Hufflepuff cock yet!”

Lily watched as Oliver excitedly punched his fist into the air as he exited the kitchen, completely ruining the poised persona he had been achieving only a few minutes prior.  Laughing, she rolled her eyes and turned to leave, but before she had the chance, her eyes landed on Beth who wore what Lily had dubbed the “shit smelling scowl.”  She felt it was only fair that she owned the naming rights since that particular scowl was reserved solely for her.  “Oh shut up, Beth. Cock is a grown-up word and we’re all grown-ups.”  She spat before she picked up one of the cookies, took an obnoxiously large bite, and stalked off.  

Giddiness bubbled in Lily’s chest as she threw herself down at the base of her favourite tree.  It wasn’t as if she got off on confrontation, there was just something immensely satisfying about righting injustices in the world through high volume and vulgarity.  Okay, maybe she got off on it a little, she thought with a shrug, pulling out her assigned reading and leaning against the trunk of the tree.  

It was unclear how long she had been sitting there, absent-mindedly throwing bites of pasta into her mouth while she reread the same paragraph for, at least, the fifteenth time.  What was clear, however, was that attempting to read at her level of exhaustion was a lost cause.  She closed the book dramatically and tossed it to the side before reaching for one of her cookies.  Her brows furrowed in confusion when she noticed that there was only one cookie remaining.  She instinctively looked around only to see the pastry floating through the air into the outstretched hand of the mystery little girl.

“You little shit!” Lily shouted with a laugh. “I guess we know how you got passed the security wards now.”

The child didn't seem to understand Lily's words, only her tone, as she glared at her before sticking out her tongue and biting into the cookie.

“Ha! I have to hand it to you, you’re a ballsy little witch. If you think that's cool, check this out.” She announced as she pulled her wand, moving it in a series of complicated patterns until streamers and confetti burst forth and fell upon the child's head.

Instead of watching her spell, Lily kept her eyes trained on the little girl's face and was not disappointed. The child's dark brown eyes expanded until they looked as though they'd pop from their sockets. Her mouth dropped open, revealing bits of half eaten cookie. Just when Lily thought that she'd made a mistake and sent the kid into total shock, she shook her dark head once, as if shaking herself out of a daze. Eagerly, she then moved towards Lily and made to grab the wand.

“Oh no you don't!” Lily chastised as she tucked the wooden stick back into her pocket. “If you have that much control wandless and untrained, you'd have me transfigured into a giant cookie and eaten by the one minute mark.” When the dark-haired girl's shoulder slumped, Lily continued. “I'll tell you what,” she said, breaking the cookie in half and holding it out, “you can't have my wand but you CAN have half of my cookie.”

She froze, studying Lily's face for a moment before finding what she was looking for and accepting the treat. Lily sat back and really took in the child's appearance for the first time since meeting her. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her feet shoeless and blistered, her black hair sat matted to her head. Clearly, Oliver had been right, no one was taking care of her and Lily found herself struggling to swallow around a lump in her throat at the thought.

When she was able to compose herself enough to speak, she asked, “What's your name?” Instead of a blank stare or one of confusion, the child's beautiful brown eyes sparkled, revealing an inquisitive spirit within. Lily smiled and continued. “My name is Lily.” She said, motioning to herself.

The girl scrunched up her face in concentration. “Ma-namey?”

Lily shook her head, pointing to herself again. “Lily.”

“Lee-lee?”

“Yes!” Lily shouted victoriously, assuming that Lee-lee was the closest they'd get.

The dark-skinned girl's face lit up at the praise as she stood, her body buzzing with excited energy, pointing at her own chest. “Lee-lee!” She cheered.

“Ha! No, no.” The redhead said, briefly considering naming the child Lily to avoid disappointing her but quickly deciding against it. “Lily.” She said pointing to herself again. “Tree. Cookie. Book. Lily.” She said, touching each object in turn, before ending back with her hand on her chest.

Understanding bloomed across the child’s face as her small, dark hand thrust forward into Lily’s shoulder, a little too roughly, screaming “Lee-lee!”  She then frantically jumped up and down and pointed to herself.  “Zara!”  

“Zara?” Lily confirmed.  When Zara nodded, both girls’ faces broke into matching smug grins.  “Well Zara,” Lily said, holding out the other half of the cookie.  “I think you’re pretty cool.  I mean, I don’t share my cookies with just anyone.”

“Cookie.”  Zara affirmed, holding her treat in the air proudly.  “Lee-lee. Cookie. Zara.”  

Shaking her head, Lily added, “You’re a clever little witch, aren’t you, Zara?”

At the sound of her name, the dark haired girl lifted her head expectantly, revealing a chocolate and crumb stained mouth.  Lily let out an uncharacteristic giggle as she swiped the thumb over the child’s mouth and wiped the residue on her pants.  

Zara followed her movements, surveying the ground around Lily’s legs before looking up at her expectantly.  “Cookie?”

“No, there are no more cookies.  No more.”  Lily said apologetically, hoping Zara would be willing to stay without any incentive.

Zara let out a sigh.  “No more.”  She lamented.  

“Who’s your friend?”  A voice interjected unexpectedly, causing both girls to jump and Zara to dash behind the tree.

Lily looked up angrily.  “Ollie, you scared her!”  She chastised.

Ever the kind Hufflepuff, Oliver had the decency to look slightly ashamed for a moment.  “Hmm..” He thought as his lips puckered slightly, and pulled to the left side of his face, in the same concentration face he’d had since he was eleven.  He then reached down and laced their fingers together and began to speak in, what Lily could only assume, was Zara’s native language.  

When Zara’s head poked around the tree, Lily asked, “What did you tell her?”

“That you owe me a life debt and have to do everything I say.”  He deadpanned with an eye roll.  “Obviously, that I’m a friend of yours, Lils.”

Lily scoffed.  “Well, you should tell her that you’re a show-off and are only showboating because you’re annoyed that I earned her trust first.”  

“Yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with my wanting her to actually be able to communicate with someone.”  He muttered, sarcastically as Zara rejoined them  

“Hey!  We were doing just fine!”  Lily shouted, defensively.  “Lee-lee, Zara, cookie.”

“No more!” Zara interrupted.

A smug smile overtook Lily’s face.  Oliver chuckled and unlaced their fingers as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another cookie, handing it to a reinvigorated, Zara.  “Hey!  You were holding out on me!”  The redhead accused.

“I’m not going to give you all of my cookies.”  He said, playfully shaking his head.  “You are so ungrateful.”

Even though she was sure that Zara didn’t understand a word of their banter, the child still smiled at them warmly as she munched on her treat.  The duo allowed her to finish, throwing the occasional lighthearted tease at each other, before falling into a comfortable silence.  Being in the girl’s presence initially gave Lily a sense of bliss that could only come from close proximity to an adorable child.  Although Lily had never wanted children of her own, she always enjoyed how interacting with them could transport her to days spent playing quidditch in the garden or teasing Albus with James.  However, there was a sorrow that laid right below the fierceness in Zara that made her insides tighten uncomfortably.  After a few moments, her eyes met Oliver’s in a silent conversation, both knowing that they must have the conversation that they dreaded..  Lily took a deep breath and spoke first.

“Zara, where is your home?”  Keeping her eyes glued to the child’s face, she listened gratefully as Oliver translated.  The dark-haired girl visibly swallowed as she shifted uncomfortably, her hands coming up and fisting her dirty locks, her glistening eyes shifting to look anywhere but at Lily.  Oliver opened his mouth to speak again but Lily put out a hand to silence him, knowing somehow that words in that moment would cause the girl to flee.

After a few minutes, Zara’s eyes flickered up sadly.  “Home.”  She said.  “Home no more.”


End file.
